English Information | English Programs | English Courses
English
College of Liberal Arts
Department Chair
Eileen S. Klink
Department Office
McIntosh Humanities Bldg. (MHB), Rm. 419
Telephone
(562) 985-4223
FAX
(562) 985-2369
Faculty
Professors
Elyse M. Blankley, Stephen Cooper, Gene L. Dinielli, Elliot Fried (Emeritus), Robert M. Hertz, Eileen S. Klink, Beth Lau, Gerald I. Locklin (Emeritus), Alosi Moloi, David N. Samuelson (Emeritus), Ronald J. Strahl, Dianne L. Vipond, Charles H. Webb, Mark L. Wiley, Elizabeth V. Young, Rafael J. Zepeda
Associate Professors
Timothy Caron, Brian H. Finney, Paul Gilmore, Suzanne A. Greenberg, George Hart, Wilhelmina Hotchkiss, Helen C. Hu, Lloyd E. Kermode, Susan Peck MacDonald, Sylvia P. Maxson, Joseph P. Potts, Frederick Wegener, Mark Williams
Assistant Professors
Sarah J. Arroyo, Susan L. Carlile, Melissa J. Fiesta, W. Gary Griswold, Britt A. Mize, Norbert E. SchŸrer, Nancy S. Sheley, Martine van Elk, Carol Zitzer-Comfort
Office Manager
Glenn Bach
For information about programs of study in the Department of English, the department office can refer students to one of the coordinating faculty advisors: Undergraduate, Graduate, MFA, English Education, Composition, Creative Writing, Literature, Technical and Professional Communication, and the American Language Program. Regular office hours for all English faculty are posted near the department office, and information sheets are available detailing which faculty members regularly advise for specific options. Students should establish a file folder in the department when they first appear for major advising. Unofficial transcripts from other institutions are needed to establish continuity, waive requirements, or substitute equivalent courses.
In the discipline of English, the department’s teaching-learning emphasis is on developing and sustaining each student’s own critical reasoning, imagination, and expressive skills. Just as literature broadens and deepens one’s experience of life, the study and practice of language and writing sharpen and clarify one’s thinking. Learning to see and to seek out expressive possibilities of language in fiction, drama, poetry, essays, and the mass media also adds dimension and meaning to the experiences of life.
The course of study for the undergraduate English major enlarges the literary background of students and prepares them for graduate study, teaching, or careers in business, law, and other professions.
In all options for the major, study of a foreign language is recommended. Ideally, acquaintance with a foreign language should begin before university study, but a student can also gain a great deal by beginning language study at the university level and continuing it through upper-division courses. Because most advanced degrees require knowledge of at least one foreign language, students aiming at such degrees should definitely include language study in their undergraduate programs.
For English majors who want to study medieval and Renaissance political and social history, art, literature, philosophy, religion, music, and drama, the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies offers two programs. Undergraduate students can pursue a Certificate or a minor in Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Graduate students can pursue a Certificate in Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Interested students should turn to the catalog section entitled “Medieval and Renaissance Studies” and/or contact the program directors in MHB 512.